Hello Eileen, I’m sure many of us can sympathize the weight that comes to bear with our decisions. When my daughter was first diagnosed at 3 yrs of age and surgery was scheduled, I asked many, many questions. Putting it bluntly, I did not want to rob my daughter of the “joys of sex” in later years. We went ahead with the surgery. That was 12 years ago. I have never spoken about this aspect on this board but last year in the final months of her grade 8 class, a male classmate began calling my daughter a “les”. Please also understand that I have always been very open about explaining slang terms to my daughter. She was also well aware that two of our best neighbours were a gay couple. She was truly upset on many levels. My daughter has always enjoyed sports (swimming mostly), and preferred jogging pants until she was 11. It was hard to determine if the male classmate was aware of aspects of CAH or if he was just a bully, picking on one of the weakest. It also coincided with us beginning a routine to have her lip waxed as she was developing a bit of facial. Nonetheless, to say this whole thing wasn’t easy is an understatement. I myself am a teacher so I tread carefully as not to fuel the fire but her teacher was informed. My daughter was given a great amount of background moral support(next to none from classmates) and she survived through it all. It wasn’t easy but she made it through (top student and all). I still disagree how the young boy was handled throughout this but at the time my main focus was getting my daughter through this trying time. During this whole episode, I realized I made the right decision for my daughter. Her self esteem was truly under attack (physical and mental). If I had not gone ahead with the surgery, I can’t imagine the extra complications,questions and doubts she would have had in her mind during that very trying time. I also can’t imagine all the times when she was on swim teams how she would have fared in the dressing room. Today, at 15, she is growing into a beautiful young woman. She is in high school with new friends and has a boyfriend who calls far too often. She also fills me in on all the other boys that she and her girlfriends think are “hot”. This summer, appts with a ped endo and a gyn are scheduled to determine if any additional surgery is needed. We’re keeping our fingers crossed. I’ve also followed the thread about the Discovery Channel program. I did not see it and wonder if anyone taped it. I will certainly watch the rebroadcast in May. I also have questions regarding the intersex group you spoke of. I have checked out the intesex web site and question their lack of concern in seeing CAH as a serious medical condition of the endocrine system. Any group can send out a press release...regardless of their numbers. I've noted that lately on talk shows, etc, the intersex topic is certainly popular and gives misinformation. I don’t consider my daughter’s medical condition a topic for entertainment. PS. I also share your concern about the ‘mis’use of the term hermaphrodite. It is only correctly used when speaking of a mythological creature ( the fusion of Hermes and Aphrodite)......or when studying certain invertebrate such as earthworms and snails. I also got the distinct feeling that daughter’s endo does not see this as an appropriate term. She nearly choked when I told her that this was the term our family doctor used when finally describing my daughter’s condition. Needless to say we ditched the family doctor. I could say more but I’ve rambled enough. This was hard to write about. Thanks for listening. Hope it helps. Eileen please feel free to email me at peggydee@attcanada.net